01 Jan 2022 21:02:54
Another day of football and another VAR controversy! I have to say I’m sick of games being overshadowed by unnecessary refereeing gafs. we are now in an age of technology where the referees have at there disposal the opportunity to watch back incidents in 100s of different camera angles and yet refuse to do so! It really does beg the question what is the agenda…why does a referee need to be ‘sent’ to a pitch side monitor and why do we have terms like ‘clear and obvious error’ for referees to hide behind. We need to either scrap VAR in its entirety or change how it is implemented and quickly because the reputation of the game is plummeting! I’ve never been a big conspiracy theorist or one to label the game as corrupt but a logical person will find it hard to argue against that fact if they were to watch 1 or 2 recent ref bloopers.

For me the resolution is simple, have transparency with ref decisions! Show the ref replays of the incident on the big screen in the stadium ( as they do in rugby) and broadcast the refs communication so everyone can hear the explanation for a decision. I know people will argue that players will hassle the ref and it will slow down the game but it’s transparent, it couldn’t take any longer than the current method and it will lead to refereeing accountability (can’t pass the buck to VAR assistant) the infield ref sees the incident and makes there decision- it’s never going to be 100% as humans make errors but it will certainly give the game back its integrity!

01 Jan 2022 21:50:44
Var was used well in the Palace game, definitely penalty.

01 Jan 2022 22:02:50
Exactly MR no consistency.

01 Jan 2022 23:05:55
Spot on Baz. That’s the problem. Hence the disappointment and disillusion with var at the mo.

01 Jan 2022 23:33:59
OP, you have answered your own question in your own comments. You are asking for transparency whereas there isn’t any. This is the prob. The whole “clear and obv” stuff is a facade cos it means nothing concretely. It is just a loose phrase that they hide behind and allows the refs to dictate what it means depending on where the wind is blowing.

No transparency. No consistency hence, a complete ship show. VAR is brilliant cos it works in other countries as there are set standards for what it can and cannot be used for. Not perfect but at least you know what is coming and can adapt.

That said, I thought the ref in the Arsenal game got the main decisions right. The Arsenal pen wasn’t a pen cos to me, it was 50/ 50 hence, not enuff evidence to overturn the call on the pitch. The City pen was a pen and the sending off was correct. Had Martinelli not missed a sitter, Arsenal prolly win the game, IMO. Didn’t see the Palace gale so can’t comment on it.

02 Jan 2022 00:11:34
I disagree with that Oli. The Arsenal penalty was 100% nailed on penalty. The keeper got none of the ball and all of the striker.
Then the ref gives a corner obviously believing the keeper got the ball when he clearly didn’t. That decision should’ve been a great moment for VAR to shine as it was something that the ref got clearly and obviously wrong and he should’ve been corrected by VAR but they chose not to.
The City pen was a more subjective decision with a shirt pull yes but Silva had overrun the ball so threw himself to the ground. They fall into the ‘seen them given’ category for me when sometimes you get them but mostly you don’t.
Looking at the City penalty decision I thought there was no way they would overturn it given what they had not overturned in the first half so it’s very difficult to explain why they did.
Let’s not forget the ‘handball’ penalty City got against Wolves when it clearly hit Moutinho’s ribs. VAR decided not to correct the ref on that occasion too. Again, inexplicable.
With VAR in play we just shouldn’t be getting these decisions wrong.

02 Jan 2022 00:32:17
Can't agree oli on the arsenal pen, that's what var is for, ederson took the player then the ball, the ref couldn't see that therefor var should step in, var should be good but its use is shameful.

02 Jan 2022 01:12:26
I’m very worried it’s just going to get worse from here on out. I don’t know- I think the last couple matches in the league involving teams against Man City- or challenging Man City have just had very bad luck. Luck probably shouldn’t come into it where’s var is concerned. I’m always positive- and I always believe pool will win but I said it in a post earlier- I don’t mind losing if it’s fair-but right now- it doesn’t really feel like everything is fair. I really hope I’m wrong. I hope if we lose the league, it’s because another team were better.

02 Jan 2022 02:04:45
I think they should train monkeys to do var.

Literally no risk in worse decisions happening.

Small risk they ll rise up and take over the world.

02 Jan 2022 05:53:47
Will City ever be on the wrong end of a VAR call/ refereeing decision? They just seem to get everything to the point that it is starting to feel like they are benefiting from different treatment. One of the things I worry about with VAR is that it is easier to manipulate decisions, and thus results, if you so wanted because there is no transparency at all and no accountability. Is that what we are seeing? I don’t know, but City have benefited multiple times from contentious decisions and we have, by comparison, been hampered by them. They are good enough to not need help, when they’re getting gifted everything they could want it is hard to see how the rest us can compete.

Just taking the Wolves and Arsenal game for City, and the Spurs game for us, if the correct decisions are made you could be looking at a potential swing of 7 points (City -5, us +2): this is hugely significant, will it ”even itself out”? Given how things have gone so far I wouldn’t bet on it.

02 Jan 2022 08:34:12
Seano should Milner not walked against City?

02 Jan 2022 09:10:49
I didn't think the Arsenal penalty was nailed on at all. It should have been tho, the Arsenal player should have shielded the ball better with his foot thus giving Ederson nothing to see. I'm not sure if Ederson gets a touch or not, to me its inconclusive and the Arsenal players dive was dire, not as bad as Silva tho.

{Ed014's Note - the reply showed without any doubt that Ederson didn’t touch the ball, Odegaard got there first so it 100% wasn’t inconclusive when Sky showed the replay from the right angle.

02 Jan 2022 09:24:01
seano - I seem to recall City didn't get a handball pen go their way against us, when literally seconds later Fabinho blasted the ball to score the first goal of the match. swings and roundabouts imo.

back to the ARsenal pen. I don't think there is enough there to overturn the refs call. So I'm actually ok given the wording of how they are meant to advise the ref to have a look at the monitor.

However, this is the problem. they have added another layer of subjectivity unneccessarily. The refs seem to be traversing the balance between keeping the traditions of the game and just letting technology take over. I think this is one of those sports where they have to accept it for what it is.

The objective stuff is easy, VAR works well there. the subjective stuff like for fouls, pens etc I think they need to allow the ref more scope to review their own decisions. It might mean more stopppages, but I'd much rather a referre have a second look and either stick with their call or change it versus having a second pair of eyes advising of a 'clear and obvious error'.

02 Jan 2022 10:18:14
Even reds on here can not agree the Arsenal pen claim so how do var refs make a decision?

{Ed014's Note - dependant on which team they support I guess

02 Jan 2022 11:12:49
Beckers and Idontlooklikeklopp, I fully respect your opinions. On the Xhaka pen, I fully agree that Silva had lost the ball and was already on his way down cos the ball was gone and had Xhaka not done a Xhaka and grabbed his shirt, it’s a blatant dive BUT as soon as a fist full of shirt is grabbed, there’s no escape. Xhaka is to blame on that one, IMO.

As for the Arsenal pen, I stand by what I said and Faithworks and IR back me on this one. The play was inconclusive based on the replays I saw cos on some angles, Odegaard got the ball first. Other angles were either Ederson got the man or the ball first hence, inconclusive overall. As for the way VAR is used, we all know it’s a shambles with no transparency nor consistency hence, the mess we are in and I agree that City have been bailed out by VAR on several occasions vs Saints, Wolves and to some extent, vs Arsenal. It is what it is.

02 Jan 2022 11:22:38
I thought it was a stonewall myself, but the annoyance comes from the times decisions just seem to hold in their favour.

As Beckers Peckers said, look at the penalty they got sgsinst Eolves. Every replay showed it hit his tibs not his arm, but VAR chose not to intervene- why? That is the simple question the refs are not answering, hiding instead behind 'clear and obvious'. Yet that was blindingly clear and obvious, like Ederson again taking the player yesterday. If the Sky replays can show both incidents clearly how can VAR replays not?

Clear and obvious answers are just what fans want tbh.

02 Jan 2022 11:25:40
Well I wanted Arsenal to win Ed, for obvious reasons 😄.

{Ed014's Note - to be fair if we’d finished our chances we wouldn’t have had to worry about the penalty.